The Book of Common Dread was one of those books that I randomly pick-up while at Used Books stores. Actually I think I mainly picked it up because of the short description: a rare-books curator. ancient scrolls, vampires… I mean what more could you want in a novel. By far this is one of the best books I have picked up on a whim.

Vincent DeVilbiss is an unassuming 40 year old channeler of the dead, who would suspect this charlatan of being a Vrykolakas or Vampire as we know them. Vincent has been tasked to destroy the ancient Ahriman scrolls Physics and metaphysics that contains knowledge of the ancient evil he serves. These ancient scrolls have just arrived at Princeton University as part of the late Abraham Schickner collection and into the hands of Simon Penn, a young man who fell in love with books and has become a trusted member of the library staff. Simon’s life is heading no where fast in a dead end relationship with the career oriented Lynn Gellman. Little does he know that a chance encounter with Frederika Vanderveen at her father’s grave is going to change all their lives.

The characters in this book are very detailed each with their own characteristics and flaws that drive how they behave and how the plot evolves throughout the book. From the beautiful and damaged Frederika, to the self-assured yet conflicted Vincent, every action a character takes is tied to there character with no events seeming out of place or contrived to turn the story down a predetermined path.

Due to the nature of the underlying plot there are numerous references to christianity, God, Angels, and the fallen, however rest assured that these references are used to enhance the story and are not used to push these beliefs onto the reader. Brent does a superb job of pulling religion into the book without coloring it with his own beliefs whatever they may be.

Brent Monahan’s vampires in this story are based heavily on the traditional vampire with a few twists of his own. He treats them as a myth that over time has become so over embellished that most of what you hear is fairy tale but that tale does contain a few grains of truth. I’ll let the plot reveal the true nature of the vampires but lets say simply this is an excellent twist on the legend of the vampire.

This story is everything and more than promised on the cover description. A thrilling and entertaining novel, that leaves the reader wanting to pick up the sequel, The Blood of the Covenant, immediately upon finishing as the tale ends where it begin with an intriguingly sophisticated story that you can’t seem to get enough of.

Would you enjoy this?
Are you a fan of Vampires? Do you enjoy sophisticated thrillers? Does a nice Horror story get your adrenaline going? or even if you are just an avid lover of books, then yes pick up and read The Book of Common Dread today and you will not regret it. Be fore-warned there is some brief mature content throughout the book so it may not be for everyone.